Vandals, addicts overrun Windsor's old social services building

Mary Jane Renaud says she's watched as drug addicts and vandals have taken over an old social services building located in an urban neighbourhood just east of the city's downtown core.

The problem has become so unbearable, Renaud and a few neighbours have banded together to lobby Windsor politicians in a bid to have them clean up the property, which has been empty since the city sold it in 2005.

"There are a lot of drugs that go on in the back, even on the front porch behind me," Renaud said. "They sit there and they shoot up."

City can't do much

The building looks like a tired shell of its former self, say residents who point to graffiti and boarded-up windows as just the obvious signs of dilapidation.

Moshtaq Albazaz has a bird's eye view of the activity from the balcony of his nearby apartment. He wants city council to step in and secure the building.

"All the windows are smashed, I've seen kids playing on the roof and it's dangerous for them," he said of the unsightliness and activity. "We need this building to be shut down."

In response to complaints, Windsor building inspectors issued several orders in January, May and June of this year, according to reports from city staff. There is still one outstanding order to fix the awning out front.

The owner, who has plans to demolish the building, was contacted by CBC News, but would not comment about the activity on site.

There isn't much else the city can do, explained chief building official John Revell.

"A municipality can't really force those kinds of issues, unless there is an immediate danger to the public with the property," he told CBC News.

Renaud and her neighbours have started circulating a petition and plan to take it to city council.